It's Time..

What would you do if you witnessed your brother being taken away by strangers at a young age?Sonia is a young Adult who at the age of 9 saw her brother being taken away from her. She went through her life searching and hunting for him, with the help of Lyle a missing persons agent, and his employees Mason and Adam. Finaly she gave up, but now Lyle has scent of her missing brother again the hunt is on, what will this bring for Sonia?

2. Revealing

Chapter two --- Revealing

10:06 Jeremy’s Apartment.

Sonia lay on Jeremy’s bed, arms sprawled out , hair draped across her face and her mouth partly open showing the edges of her teeth. As she woke, she put her hand down on the bed, feeling the coolness and silkiness of the mattress sheet that was missing someone.

“Jay.” She called opening her eyes and stretching across the bed. “Jeremy..?”

No-one replied. Sonia sat up bolt straight wondering if she had dreamt the night before. Realizing that she was half nakedshe pulled the duvet over her body. A rush of blood to the head made Sonia realised that a hang over was holding her.

Great, she thought giving out a fed up breath. Gone, once again..

She rolled onto her side to the edge of the bed and picked up her top that had been lying on the floor since last night pulling it over her head and fixing it into the position where she would be covering her modesty.

As she got up out of the bed she heard a noise further down the hall. Thinking she was mad she carried on making the bed and then pulled her skirt on that was lying on a heap across the room.

Another clatter came from down the hall.

“So, he isn’t gone.” She whispered excited and happy that for once she was actuall going to wake up to see her boyfriend in his own apartment. “Good morning sweet heart.” she called down,

Sonia walked down into the hall but stopped at the end in fright. It wasn’t Jeremy who was in the kitchen it was Mason. Her head already sore with a hang over, seeing Mason in her boyfriends apartment didn’t help.

“Mason!” she screamed pulling back in surprise. “ Wh-what are you doing here at ten past ten..?!”

He gave out a sigh. “Im here to take you home Sonia.”

“Take me home? where’s Jay?”

Mason replied softly, “ Gone..”

Sonia narrowed her eyes in anger and disgust.

“Ah ha, ok. I see.. Lyle sent you didn’t he ?..suppose you know everything that went on last night, he?”

Her rage took over her, she turned on her heel and stormed down the hall back into the bed room, grabbed her shoes in a way that would have scared anyone wearing the same pair, and plunked herself down on the bed edge to pull them on. The mood made Sonia’s blood boil making the air in the whole apartment shudder.

The bed sheets were now crinkled with the force of Sonia throwing herself down on the bed.

Mason leaned against the door frame of the bedroom watching Sonia pull on her shoes.

“Sonia, I know you probably think this is mad, but I take it before you decided to go party animal last night you forgot all about that piece of paper Lyle gave you?”

Sonia stopped fixing her shoe, she just looked at the floor her hair falling round her face hiding her expression of smoldering rage.

“Yes, ok, I forgot. After all you turning up in the middle of the street and telling me to get into that old shaggy building, giving me some talk about some guy that has moved here, and that he might be my brother…I was kind of fed up and needed to get out and have some fun. You wouldn’t know what I mean but..”

“sonia come off it!” mason said getting fed up.

“No!” she shouted shooting a death stare at him, “That guy is not my brother, he went missing when I was 9 years old, that was 13 years ago Mason.. The past is the past, I moved on, knowing I would never see him again..!” Fighting back the tears Sonia looked away to hide her feelings.

“ But you don’t know.. This man has the same nose and eyes as you..”

Sonia got up from the bed and pushed out past Mason making him grunt with the force she shoved past him with.

“I’ll show you out shall I ?” she asked raising a hand to the door as if to welcome him out.

Mason rolled his eyes and unstuck himself from the door frame.

“ Fine, thank you,” he said opening the door and keeping It open waiting for Sonia to walk out.

Out on the street, as Sonia went to walk away Mason grabbed her arm making her body twirl round and face him again.

She angrily raised her hand and slapped him round the face. “I hope that leaves a mark you cunt.”

Mason hed his cheek the stinging pain running up into his eye.

“ Look, I drove here, unpicked the lock, washed the dirty glasses that were in your boyfriends sink and waited patiently for you to get up. At least let me drive you home..”

Sonia looked at him in shock, after slapping him she wasn’t expecting him to offer her a ride home. Following a slight pause she replied.” Fine.Ok.. I do suppose it is a little far to walk.”

10:42 Sonia’s house, No 9 Rose Terrace, Greenhill Street.

Sonia’s house was in a row of old terrace houses, each having the same burnt red and orange brick, and old wooden windows that were painted white and starting to rot. Behind was a large open field with wild roses growing and a small bunch of Japanese fern trees along with Buckthorn tree’s, giving the look of a small forest. The smell was a mix between roses, damp forest leaves that had begun to fall off the tree’s and onto the meadow grass below, damp soil, and humid sticky air.

Before Sonia unlocked her door, Mason rolled down his car window and called out to her, “Sonia. Look, please just look at the paper you were giving yesterday, ok?”

She unlocked her door and opened it the small noise of a creak coming from the hinges that had needed oiling for the past two years.

“Thank you Sonia. We need you to understand where we are coming from with this.”

And at that the roar came from the BMW’s engine and Mason drove off, leaving Sonia standing on her door step holding back tears that were coming on fiercely. Her once normal vision had now become a blur of water, the sore burning feeling filling her nose as she sniffed back a tear.

DO NOT CRY SONIA! She screamed inside herself.

Inside her house a pile of forgotten mail sat on her hall table. She through down her keys on the wooden top making a metallic clattering noise as they hit the wood, and each key hit of each other.

Sonia made her way up her stairs that where covered with green carpet, each step she took making a creak as the old wood below bowed and moved.

Entering her bedroom, that consisted of a double bed with two corner posts, two oak side tables, fit in wardrobes on the right hand side as she walked in, and a small three door dressing table. Sonia room was the warmest room in the house, thanks to her closing the door behind her last night before she went out.

She picked up her light blue shirt that was lying straight out on her bed.

The room wasn’t the tidiest, three pairs of shoes lay at the end of her bed, one of those being the grey faded combat boots she wore yesterday. Make- up and hair straightness lay onto of her dresser, and her wardrobe door couldn’t close as it was stuffed to the brim with clothes and shoes.

Right, the piece of paper, Sonia thought.

She carefully slide her hand into her shirt pocket and felt around feeling the softness of the shirt material and finally the uneven crumbled paper..

“Gotcha.”

Looking at the paper in fear of what might be revealed to her she took a deep confident breathe and started to unfold it. She gentle eased the paper open, not overly confident the paper revealed her worst thought.

“Oh my god..” She said falling onto the bed her stomach in her throat.

“no. NO!” she threw the paper onto her floor putting her hands to her face, her once dry soft cheeks turned to a marsh land of tears. She grabbed her hair and screamed, “ SCOTT!” falling back onto her bed and curling up in a painfully ball. She felt all the pain of the day her brother went missing flood back to her, the pain regained in her life.

The picture had released emotions to Sonia that she hadn’t felt in years, a picture of a young man about her age, looking like her, the green eyes, the fine nose.

Sonia’s body lurched with painful sobs, her eyes burning with water, unable to breathe through her blocked nose she let out great gasps of despair. ..

1:27 Sonia’s Bedroom, Aceway.

Sonia’s room was in silence, the odd sound of a drip could be heard from her bathroom just across the hall. On the bed, a ball of pain, and grief was sleeping.

Sonia’s hair had stuck to her face from drying tears. Cracks where showing on her lips as she had taken deep mournful breathes, drying them up. Not a muscle did she move, managing to cry herself to sleep, her body seemed to have given up for the afternoon, shutting itself down to repair the pain was releases by the poisonous picture.

Beneath her, the duvet lay wet from tears and saliva. Even asleep Sonia look like she was in agony. Her mouth fell open and the sound of a gentle breath was heard.

At this point her phone which was lying beside her on the bed vibrated then began to ring. The screen lit up to show a name. Sonia shuffled with the disturbance, opening her eyes and picking her phone up, she slide the bar across the screen and put it to her ear.

“Hello..?” she said half asleep.

“Sonia.. Its me Jeremy..”

Hearing his voice Sonia sat up, her hair a mess, eyes as wild as fire and mouth open ready to speak.

“Sonia im sor-”

“Jer!” Sonia screamed. “ Jer why! You could have woke me up.. I got up to find Ma ..” Sonia caught on to what she was about to let out, not wanting Jeremy to know that some unknown person that he had never met was in his apartment and washed his dishes, she stopped abruptly.

“Wha-what did u find so..?” he asked a puzzled tone in his voice.

“I..I found a, Spider. On the bedroom floor. And..Erm... With you NOT there to kill it I had to use my good shoes.!”

Confused and frankly a little concerned over the whole spider issue, he cleared his voice and carried on.

“Sonia.. Im sorry I got a call at half 9 this morning and had to dash. I was going to wake you…but you looked so gorgeous laying there I didn’t want to make that image that I would remember for the rest of the day go away.. So I left you. Alone. With-a-spider-on-the.. Floor.”

Smiling at the conversation and that he actually believed the spider excuse she fell silent.

“It’s ok.” she said nasally and sniffing.

“Sonia. Have- Have you been crying?” Jeremy asked putting his mouth a little closer to the phone in concern. “ Is everything ok.. Your not upset that I left you are you babe?”

Realizing that she had sniffed, and her voice was croaky, Sonia panicked and hung up on Jeremy.

Shit. Sonia thought.

She put her head in her hand and bent forward. Seeing the discarded picture on the floor, her head slowly rose again. Lyle.

She quickly unlocked her phone and flicked through her contacts looking for Lyle’s number. Eventually finding it, the phone began to ring. On the other end of the receiver, Lyle picked up.“Hello..?” He asked

“Lyle!” Sonia said between her teeth, holding her head back so her nose didn’t run and trying hard not to fill up with tears she listened.

“Ah.. Sonia.. I was wondering when you’d phone.”

“Don’t! I asked you to let this go and still you proceed in torturing me. Why?!”

“Sonia, please, look the picture.. I can explain, we looked him up.. His name is David Scott Fletcher…its so similar it might as well be the same!”

The atmosphere in Sonia’s bedroom went hard; she fazed out and nearly dropped the phone. On the other end of the line Lyle frowned in sarcastic worry. Waiting for a reply.

“SONIA!” he shouted knowing it would get her back to the phone conversation that had taken a short break.

Back in her, conversation with Lyle world, Sonia replied.

“Ye-yes.. But.. My brother’s name is Scott David McFaul. It. like..It’s like he has-”

“Has changed his names round..?” Lyle asked feeling like all the effort he had put in over the years was finally paying off.

“Yes,” Sonia said breathily. “Yes.”

“Sonia. Im going to text you over the address for were he lives…”

Again there was a small fall of silence.

“Ye-yes, and Lyle.”

Relieved Sonia was going along he replied egerly,“Yes..?”

“You’ve put me through much pain. And if this- if this is my brother.. How will I know he isn’t himself? I know it’s been 13 years Lyle. But.”

Raising his head and leaning back in his office chair Lyle gave out a sigh of relief.

“ ..It will be ok” And he hung up, leaving Sonia Bewildered on the other end with a ring of cut call in her ear.

Dropping the phone onto the bed where it bounced off and onto the floor, Sonia got up and walked into the bathroom. She looked into the mirror, seeing red cheeks; red blood shot eyes, messy wavy hair and dry lips. She opened her medicine cupboard above the sink and pulled out a bag.

Her bathroom filled with the smell of last nights perfume, clean toilet water and shampoo, was now filled with the smoke of body spray and the sound of pills being shook out of a container, a brush being madly dragged through her hair and the pop of moisturising lip stick being opened.

Get It together Sonia.. Its probably not even him. This one thought kept repeating itself in her head. Trying to convince herself that it wasn’t him after all the years of him being off the grid.

Sonia got dressed out of her party clothes and into the clothes that she had worn the day before. Consisting of her scruffy jeans, grey faded combat boots and light blue shirt. She made her way down the stairs to put on some toast, feeling that she was rushing to get out the door she sat down at her table.

Although her kitchen wasn’t all that big anyway consisting of a small cooker, fridge, a microwave that was at least 7 years old that her mum had given her, and three free working top benches, the room felt even smaller with her world beginning to turn upside down.

A few minutes passed and she managed to pull herself up from the chair, waddle across to the fridge, accidentally tearing open the bread bag and lifted out two slices, dropping one of the floor.

Feeling frustrated and agitated, she pulled down the leaver on the toaster and watched as the sides lit up with heat.

A knock on the door snapped Sonia out of her toaster daze and got her to stagger to the door and open it half into herself. There stood Jeremy, leaning against the door frame just like Mason had done in Jeremy’s apartment.

“Jesus, what the hell has happened to you..?” he said going to her house and closing the door for her.

“I- I got a.. phone call..” She looked at him not knowing what to say next.

“Sonia baby, look at me.” He grabbed her head and looked into her eyes. “What have you taken..?” he was clearly concerned, her head going floppy in his hands he supported her while they walked into the kitchen. Plunking her down in the chair she had sat in before, he could smell toast.

“Well, at least you have managed to put toast on..” Then he realised the slice lying on the kitchen floor. “And on the floor.” he said sarcastically, picking it up and throwing it in the bin that sat next to the door.

“I-m sorry Jay.” Sonia said starting to cry again. “Its been a hard day for me..”

Jeremy didn’t say anything he put his back to the kitchen window and watched Sonia with a disgraceful stare. Clutching the edges of the bench with his hands, Sonia narrowed her eyes in at his knuckles.

“wha’ the HELL happened to your knuckles Jeremy!”

Realizing the bruising and cuts that he had forgotten about, his hand now slid into his trouser pockets.

“noth-nothing So that you need to worry about.”

The toast had now popped out of the toaster and made his way onto the kitchen top.

Standing up out of the chair and more alert with the damage on her boyfriends knuckles she pulled his hands out of the pockets.

“THIS IS NOT NOTHING!” she shouted looking up to him, her eyes filled with worry and confusion.

“Sonia,” Jeremy said grabbing her by her arms and looking down at her. “What I want to know is-”

“what caused this!” Sonia interrupted.

“I work a very hard job.. I fell out with a guy today sonia.. And we had a fight ok..?!”

“NO! my ‘oast is getting cold and you wonttell me the full story! This is serious Jer!”

Gritting his teeth and letting go of her arms he turned round trying hard to keep his temper, and lifted the toast off the bench top and threw it across the room, making it slap off the opposite wall and hit the floor with a small tap.

“Jay!” Sonia said taking a step back; feeling threatened by her own boyfriend was not helping with the feeling produced by amount of diazepam she had taken.

“Sonia, I love you.. But when your like this, and I cant get it out of you what‘s happened.. I don’t love you.. You ask me the same question.. “where do you work..” “ Who do you work for..” I help people…sick people.. !” He raised his hands showing Sonia the full extent of the cuts.

“Sick huh..?” she said sitting back down. “ You can leave now..”

Jeremy looked to the floor in anger. Taking a few deep breathes he asked again. “ What happened today Sonia.?”

Nodding her head and whimpering she replied. “ I think…I think I have finally found my brother. Its great news, but-but its been SO long.And I don’t even know if its him..”

“Well. That’s GREAT news Sonia.. But ..erm. When where you going to tell me you had a long lost brother..?”

She looked at him pouting with thought. “ ‘on’t know..”

“Right..” Jeremy walked out of the kitchen and stormed up the stairs making the wood below creak unforgivably. Stumping into the bathroom and trying not to choke on the mist of body spray he looked at the sink finding a bottle of diazepam littered all over the sink.

“ SONIA! How many of these did you take?!” he walked to the top of the stairs to listen.

A faint cry was heard then she replied. “ Four maybe.. Less.”

Fantastic, he thought.

Jeremy then walked into the bedroom and stepped on the picture of what was possibly Sonia’s brother. Lifting his foot up to see what the crunchy paper noise was, he picked it up and stared. Looking round quickly to see if Sonia was coming up he stashed the picture into his pocket and made for the stairs.

“Im going Sonia. Have a great day..” he opened the door and slammed it quickly behind him.

Sonia sat there, tears running down her face, thinking of what had just happened. The news of getting to hear of her brother, and then the fight with Jeremy made her think twice of waking up that day.

Sonia’s phone began to vibrate again but this time it chimed Telling her she has received a message. She looked at the screen, simple enough that she didn’t need to unlock it. The text said:

72 Sunny Grove Estate

Aceway.

Bt 80 9ZG

That was Sonia’s cue. She got up walking over to her sink and splashing water round her face. Looking out the kitchen window to see a black cat calmly sitting on her fence staring at her, gave her hope.

“Get a grip Sonia.. Shake it out of you. Time to go,” She said. She walked out the door and locked it behind her. Nothing with her but $10 and her phone she ran up the road, feeling the humidity’s intensity increase as she got further up. Finally she stopped outside a supermarket and crossed the road to where a taxi was sat. Even dosed with at least three diazepam Sonia could still act like she normal.

Tapping with her knuckles on the driver’s window she made the sign with the money that she wanted a lift, and with no objection he took the money and drove her to the address. The taxi was old, the seats torn and smelling of stale smoke and the odd scent of car refresher.

Half way to the house, Sonia got a phone call from Mason. He was on his way down with Adam to make sure everything was ok. This didn’t impress Sonia much but she went ahead knowing that the matter what she said they wouldn’t not come along.